HIGHLIGHTS

PM Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi will be invited.

Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan are also likely to participate.

Leaders from the Left parties will be excluded.

While Trinamool Congress head honcho Mamata Banerjee is all set to take over the chief ministerial berth, preparations are on full swing to invite some of the top political leaders, industrialists and stars from the film fraternity to attend the swearing-in ceremony Kolkata.

Since close to 8,000 to 10,000 guests are expected to arrive on the big day, the event will take place in Red Road instead of the usual Raj Bhavan.

PM MODI, SONIA TOPS THE LIST

Topping the list is Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Former Bihar CM and RJD chief Lalu Prasad and son Tejaswi Yadav are also included on the guest list. Sources told India Today that the TMC chief has personally invited Nitish, Sonia and Lalu.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari will also be invited.

Speaking to India Today, Mamata's brother, Kartik Banerjee said that she was keen on inviting several CMs for her oath ceremony.

"PM Modi will be invited for the swearing-in. Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal and several others who are considered to be her friends will also be called," he said.

"It would be great gesture to invite PM Modi for the swearing-in on May 27", State BJP President Dileep Ghosh said.

INDUSTRIALISTS ON THE LIST

Mukesh Ambani, YC Deveshwar are some of the top industrialists who are likely to attend the ceremony.

FILM/SPORTS FRATERNITY ALSO INVITED

Invitations are being sent to actor Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan for their participation. Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly is also being invited.LEFT 'LEFT' OUT

Sources say that leaders from the Left parties are likely to be excluded from the event.

MAMATA EYES 2019 POLLS

Going by the list of political leaders, some say that Mamata is trying to send a signal to Delhi about her keen interest for the 2019 polls. Addressing her first meet with the newly elected legislators, the TMC chief said that her visits to the National Capital is likely to increase, possibly once in two months.